CSUN Has No Cause for Alarm

There were plenty of baskets at the buzzer Saturday night at Cal State Northridge.

Unfortunately for 328 spectators at the Matadome, there was no drama, only distraction.

Despite the annoyance of a malfunctioning fire alarm that resounded throughout the game, the Matadors remained focused and recorded an 80-55 nonconference victory over Cal State Dominguez Hills in their home opener.

“I heard it,” center Brian Heinle of Northridge said. “Everybody did. But we weren’t going to let something like that affect our performance.”

Northridge (1-1) built an eight-point lead in the first half and steadily increased the margin in the second half, out-rebounding the Toros, 40-21, and holding an edge in turnovers, 18-14.

“One of our goals this year is to out-rebound every opponent and we did that tonight,” Coach Bobby Braswell of Northridge said. “We know we’ll have some turnovers because of the way we run the ball, but we want to cut down on them and we did that, too.”

Heinle scored 21 points, muscling inside for his most important baskets.

Forward Hewitt Rolle had a career-high 14 rebounds, 11 defensive.

Northridge went ahead for good, 17-16, extended an eight-point halftime lead and kept Dominguez Hills from gaining momentum.

Things looked good, Braswell said. Too bad they didn’t sound the same.

Midway through the first half, an alarm began to sound repeatedly in the arena and foyer. The signal continued through intermission and did not cease until 2:38 remained in the game.

“I’m just appreciative Dominguez Hills didn’t cause a ruckus,” Braswell said. “It was a distraction for our players.”

For some, at least.

“It bothered me,” said guard Carl Holmes, who had 14 points. “It went off one day during practice and I guess it was on all last night.”

Said Rolle: “It wasn’t that big a deal. We just put it out of our minds and played.”

Heinle scored 15 points in the first half, including six of the Matadors’ first nine points.

Guard Marco McCain had two three-pointers in the first half. Guard Markus Carr had one. Carr followed a McCain three-pointer with a steal and dunk to give Northridge a 39-27 lead.

Northridge, which lost its opener to USC, 73-59, found themselves in the opposite situation against Division II Dominguez Hills (0-2). The Matadors were guarding against upset, Braswell said.

“I thought our guys did a good job of weathering their run in the second half,” Braswell said.

“They are a tough team, a Division II school coming into a big game.”

Northridge took command in the second half, thanks in part to Rolle’s rebounding.

“We played a lot better defense in the second half,” Braswell said. “We talked about it at halftime. Hewitt Rolle did a great job setting the tone.”

Holmes added to the pace with two three-point baskets in the second half, including one with 59 seconds to play to give the Matadors a 78-63 lead.

“We’re a good team right now, but we want to be a great team,” Holmes said. “We did what we needed to do on defense. Now we have to go from there.”

Northridge played without forward Jermar Welch, who tore ligaments in his left thumb against USC. Welch is expected to have surgery next week and will be out eight to 10 weeks, Braswell said.